Comment by igor47
3 years ago
1000x this. I only became a successful, productive member of society because a friend personally asked the CTO of a tech company to approve hiring me despite my computer crimes felony -- and the CTO took that chance. The company later went public for $B and now I am an angel investor and open source contributor etc, but I got lucky that I knew the right person at the right time. Our records follow us forever, and corporations/HR departments do not take risks like that.
If you want to change a life, get a company to hire one person that you know is a decent human being but once made a bad decision.
Often, it's that single opportunity that so many of us ever need.